... With a $30 million investment two new state-of-the-art cardiac... catheterization labs open in 2008 to serve the community ...LANGHORNE Pa. April 16 /- St. Mary Medical Center today... The cardiac team at St. Mary has performed many catheterizations and...

LANGHORNE, Pa., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Mary Medical Center today
announced that it will expand its cardiology services by adding two new,
state-of-the-art procedure rooms to its cardiac catheterization labs (cath
labs). Currently home to three procedure rooms, St. Mary will invest more
than $30 million to make this upgrade to meet the growing healthcare needs
of the community. To date, nearly 35,000 procedures (nearly 4,000
procedures annually) have been performed in the cath labs, making the St.
Mary cardiology team one of the region's most experienced. Since the cath
labs were last expanded in 1999, the service has experienced a greater than
88 percent increase in patient volume.

"The cardiac team at St. Mary has performed many catheterizations and
those numbers are expected to increase," notes Director of Cardiac
Catheterization Laboratories Dr. Ronald Fields. "With that being said,
experience only goes so far. By adding these new procedure rooms St. Mary
is equipping us with the tools we need to complement our collective
experience."

Since the addition of a third procedure room in 1999, the St. Mary
Medical Center cath labs have experienced more than an 88 percent increase
in patient volume. In addition, 93 percent of adults living in Bucks County
have at least one cardiac risk factor, suggesting that patient volume will
continue to grow in the coming years. To keep pace with this increase in
procedures, St. Mary is initiating a multiyear refurbishment of its cardiac
catheterization capabilities. In addition to increasing the availability of
time slots in the lab that leads to shorter wait times for procedures, the
expansion efforts allow St. Mary to expand its technological offerings.

"We have a talented staff at St. Mary Medical Center, and the
availability of state-of-the-art facilities and the most updated technology
definitely play a role in our ability to perform the most complex cardiac
procedures," says Chief of Cardiology Dr. Richard Leshner. "The new
procedure rooms allow us to cater to the aging population throughout the
region that has come to depend on us to have the very best," Leshner added.

The cath lab initiative begins in 2008 and occurs in two phases. As a
part of phase one, two new, state-of-the-art cardiac cath labs will be
built on the second floor of the Medical Center in the Outpatient Care
Facility near the Cardiovascular Care Unit. In a second phase, two
additional cath labs and more than 20 private patient rooms will be built
nearby. At the end of the project, St. Mary will have a total of four new,
state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization labs. The St. Mary Medical Center
Foundation received a $1 million grant from the County of Bucks
Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to support the cardiac cath lab
expansion.

The three original cath labs that have resided on the hospital's ground
floor will be closed to make room for a planned surgery expansion.

"It's great to see St. Mary continuing to take a leadership role in
cardiac care," says Director of Interventional Cardiology Dr. George
Heyrich. "With the number of cardiac catheterizations we already perform
and the completion of these four procedures rooms, we rival any hospital in
the region."

Providing vital services to the community, the cardiac cath labs employ
the latest technology and advanced clinical procedures to diagnose
blockages and narrowing in the arteries, evaluate the pumping ability of
the heart and the function of heart valves, and to measure pressures within
the heart.

Other procedures performed in the St. Mary Cardiac Catheterization Labs
include:

-- Emergency Balloon Angioplasty - While most cath lab procedures are not

stents prevents the growth of scar tissue that often causes the treated

artery to close up again.

-- Abdominal Aortic Stent Graft - Used to repair a weakened section of the

aorta (an abdominal aortic aneurysm), a stent graft allows blood to

flow through the stent, entirely bypassing the aneurysm, and thus

preventing rupture.

St. Mary Medical Center performed Bucks County's first open-heart
surgery in 1997, and since then, has established a history of "first"
milestones in cardiology. In 2005, St. Mary was the first to implant a
cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator system with automatic fluid
status monitoring, and in 2003, was the first to utilize commercially
available drug-eluting stents. St. Mary was also the first facility in
Bucks County to perform a bi-ventricular pacemaker implantation in its
electrophysiology laboratory in 2002 and the first to utilize a
three-dimensional computerized mapping system in the treatment of
arrhythmias. St. Mary opened the first cardiac catheterization lab in Bucks
County in 1991 and the first electrophysiology lab in 1998.

About St. Mary Medical Center

St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, the most
comprehensive medical center in the area, is celebrating 35 years of caring
for our community. Its compassionate staff of more than 600 physicians,
2,400 colleagues, and 700 volunteers is committed to providing excellence
in patient safety and quality care. St. Mary offers state-of-the-art
technology and highly skilled physicians and clinical professionals in
providing advanced care for complex cases. Services include a comprehensive
cardiovascular program; the only state accredited Trauma Center in Bucks
County; Emergency Services with a dedicated Pediatric Emergency Care
Center; a Joint Commission certified Primary Stroke Center; specialized
diagnostic imaging; obstetrics; a Joint Commission certified hip and knee
joint replacement program; exceptional orthopedic surgical capabilities and
rehabilitation; advanced brain and spine care; sleep disorders, pain
management, and wound healing centers; the St. Mary Breast Center; and the
St. Mary Regional Cancer Center.

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